Have you ever gone swimming? When do you go swimming - in the Summer or in the Winter? Tell a story about when you went swimming? Post your stories here!
It's Summer, but that doesn't mean the learning ends. There are many things you can do with your children to increase language skills.
Today: Play I Spy outside by looking for things of different colors. “I spy something red.” This is a favorite game we play during pick-up time. Visit our Parent Page for a printable July/August calendar created by: http://expresslyspeaking.wordpress.com/ Not possible! I mean really - kids this age can barely recognize their letters by name!
However, many educators know this is not true. When I am working with the children I get to see first hand how they go from fist-grabbing a crayon to writing beautifully. Many Montessori schools do not offer cursive as they want the children to learn print so they will have an easy transition into the next school they go to for Kindergarden or 1st grade. The idea makes sense; however, after watching the children learning to write in print I discovered that the motions of cursive seemed to make more sense. So, this Spring I made the decision to incorporate cursive into our language area. It will be fun to see how the children respond to it. I was quite excited to stumble upon this article today. It explains in more detail why cursive should not be forgotten. I'd be interested in your thoughts . . . http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/memory-medic/201303/what-learning-cursive-does-your-brain Meet one of the creators of the Montessorium apps. Well, I wondered how they would pull off one of the fundamental components of the math lessons - mix it up. I should have known there was shaking involved. It is an iPad, you know :) Yep - I am sold. Looks like a great way to keep the learning going at home. For those of you who asked about what to do during the summer to keep skills up. READ, READ, READ to your kids (and encourage them to read to you), but after that go ahead and explore the Montessorium apps. Next step, purchase Geography. Can't wait to see how that is set up. Will keep you updated . . . www.montessorium.com or visit the App Store (be careful and look for Montessorium apps - there are others that look similar).
Sooo . . . I've been doing some more investigation into these particular apps. I know, as mentioned in an earlier post, technology is no substitute for the real thing. I am finding that I really do like these apps, though. Have you purchased them? Please share your feedback as I'm interested in knowing how a) your child likes them b) they compare to other learning apps you may have and c) how do you as a parent like them - better than just a game? From what I can tell the presentations in the app are almost identical to how they are presented in our classroom - that's a good thing.
I did notice when the example in the video was drawn some of the lines were not "perfect," but I'm guessing this is because they were emulating a child drawing and not providing an example of writing for the child. Any thoughts on that? I'll be looking for more videos to share on the other subjects covered in different apps once I've had a chance to review them. To see for yourself (or to purchase), visit www.montessorium.com. Welcome to our new web site! Please visit often as pictures of classroom events & activities will be posted periodically. The blog will be a place to share thoughts, ideas and interesting findings related to the classroom and early childhood education.
|